Railway chaos over the weekend was due to staff shortages and not linked to a walkout, rail bosses claimed last night.

Commuters were left in the lurch after some services were scrapped because of a shortage of staff.

Fed-up travellers on trains to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Galashiels, Stirling, North Berwick and other destinations were all hit.

The fiasco comes after ScotRail guards voted to go on strike in a dispute over driver-only trains.

The bid to cut down on staff was branded a “lethal gamble with basic rail safety” by the RMT union.

Last week saw union members back walkouts by 3-1, with a bigger majority for other industrial action.

RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “The workforce know only too well there is a real threat to passengers of watering down and wiping out the safety-critical role of the guard on these ScotRail services. That is a lethal gamble with basic rail safety.”